HJNO Nov/Dec 2019

54 NOV / DEC 2019  I  Healthcare Journal of NEW ORLEANS   Hospital Rounds Free Child Seat Inspections Held Statewide The Louisiana Passenger Safety Task Force and University Medical Center New Orleans recently offered free child car seat inspections statewide in conjunction with National Seat Check Saturday and Child Passenger Safety Week. Certified technicians were available at speci- fied locations to ensure that child safety seats are properly installed. They also installed safety seats that were donated to families in need with money raised by employees of Louisiana’s 147 SONIC Drive-In restaurants. Since 2016, $223,000 has been raised to pur- chase 2,300 car seats.” Ochsner Ranked #1 Hospital in Louisiana by U.S. News &World Report Ochsner Medical Center (OMC), inclusive of Ochsner Medical Center-West Bank Cam- pus and Ochsner Baptist,* has been ranked #1 in Louisiana for the eighth year in a row and rec- ognized as a Best Hospital for 2019-20 by U.S. News & World Report . Ochsner was also ranked #1 in the New Orleans metro area, and recog- nized among the Best Hospitals in southeastern Louisiana. OMC was also nationally ranked in the top 50 in two specialties, gastroenterology and gastro- intestinal surgery, and neurology and neurosur- gery in the new 2019-20 Best Hospitals rankings. This is the 10th consecutive year that OMC has been nationally ranked among the Best Hospi- tals in America. Also announced was OMC’s distinguished “High Performing” ranking in the following areas—colon cancer surgery, hip replacement, knee replace- ment, heart failure, aortic valve surgery, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). “We are proud to be recognized as one of the nation’s best hospitals and ranked #1 in Louisi- ana for the eighth consecutive year,” said War- ner Thomas, president and CEO, Ochsner Health System. “Our physicians, nurses, and all of our employees contribute to these nationally-ranked outcomes year after year with their dedication to clinical excellence and passion for delivering exceptional care to our patients.” In June, Ochsner Hospital for Children was nationally ranked among the country’s top 2019- 20 Best Children’s Hospitals for cardiology and heart surgery, and gastroenterology and gastro- intestinal surgery by U.S. News & World Report . Ochsner Hospital for Children is the only children’s hospital in Louisiana or Mississippi to be nation- ally ranked among the top 50 children’s hospitals in the country, and has received this distinction for three consecutive years. *Ochsner’s quality metrics include data from both Ochsner Medical Center, Ochsner Medical Center - West Bank Campus, and Ochsner Baptist – a Campus of Ochsner Medical Center. NIHGrant for Cardiothoracic Surgery Awarded The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Ochsner Health System (Ochsner) a $1.3 million shared grant for cardiothoracic sur- gery research. The grant, which will be used over a five-year period, establishes Ochsner as an affil- iate linked clinical research center, which will work to conduct collaborative randomized control trials with another site as part of the larger Cardiotho- racic Surgical Trials Network (CTSN). This grant marks the first time Ochsner’s cardio- thoracic surgery team, based in New Orleans, has participated in a NIH-sponsored clinical trial and focuses on work with CTSN – a network of North American hospitals that work together to conduct collaborative clinical trials aimed at finding solu- tions for important cardiac issues impacting public health. CTSN was formed in 2007 by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in collab- oration with National Institute of Neurologic Dis- orders and Stroke (NINDS) and Canadian Insti- tutes for Health Research (CIHR). The CTSN Data Coordinating Center is housed at the Interna- tional Center for Health Outcomes and Innova- tion Research at The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. “Ochsner relentlessly seeks innovative solu- tions for our cardiac patients. Establishing linked research centers across the country expands our access to trials geared toward improving over- all cardiovascular health,” said Patrick E. Parrino, MD, FACS, chief, Section of Thoracic and Cardio- vascular Surgery, Ochsner Health System. “Work- ing hand in hand with Cleveland Clinic and the Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network is just one more way we are creating new opportunities for our patients.” Only four pairs of hospitals were selected to receive funding from the NIH for this initiative. Each pair consists of a core site with an affili- ate site, forming a linked clinical research center tasked with conducting collaborative randomized controlled trials, while fostering talent at the affili- ate sites. Hospitals selected included:  • Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, OH) and Ochsner Health System (New Orleans, LA) • University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) and St. Vincent Infirmary (Little Rock, AK) • University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA) and Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Insti- tute (Kansas City, KA) • University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA) and West Virginia University (Morgantown, WV) This project was funded by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (2UM1HL088955-11), part of the National Insti- tutes of Health. It is being conducted in collabo- ration with The Cleveland Clinic Cardiothoracic Collaborative Clinical Center. Alan Marc Gillinov, MD is the principal investigator at the primary site (Cleveland Clinic) and Patrick E. Parrino, MD is the principal investigator at the linked affiliate site (Ochsner Health System). LakeviewRegional Introduces Senior-Friendly Emergency Services In an effort to meet the needs of older patients on the Northshore, Lakeview Regional Medi- cal Center, a campus of Tulane Medical Center, recently made several “senior-friendly” enhance- ments to its emergency department. Lakev- iew Regional has provided specialized train- ing for physicians and staff, modified treatment rooms, and introduced equipment and amenities specially designed to enhance the overall experi- ence for seniors aged 65 and over. “We recognize that seniors have unique health- care needs, and we are pleased to say that senior- ity is our priority at Lakeview Regional,” said Dr. Charles Muntan, the emergency department’s medical director. “As our community grows and ages, we are here to meet that population’s spe- cific needs in the areas of physical, psychological, and social complexities.”